The Outsiders Character Analysis Essay

Ponyboy from “The Outsiders” has many characteristics, but just like any person there are good and bad ones with a few that really stand out to show what type of person Ponyboy is. The book, “The Outsiders” by S. E. Hinton is a coming of age fiction book that goes 2 weeks into the life of a 14-year-old boy, Ponyboy Curtis, in the mid 1960s. It shows Ponyboy and his gang going through society with two different social groups, the socs and greasers, and how he struggles with what's right and what's wrong when he feels like an outsider. Ponyboy can be arrogant and impulsive, however he makes up for it by being brave and thoughtful, showing us that he is a great representation of a loyal person that will do anything for his family and friends,

One example of Ponyboy’s positive character traits, being thoughtful, is when Ponyboy is speaking to Randy as he is about to buy cokes from “Tasty Freeze”. Randy had pulled him aside and during their talk, put certain things in perspective for Ponyboy. This is shown when in between their conversation, Ponyboy starts to think and says to himself, “Randy was supposed to be too cool to feel anything, and yet there was pain in his eyes.”...”I remembered Cherry's voice: Things are rough all over. I knew then what she meant.” page (117). This shows that Ponyboy is thoughtful for a few reasons. One of these reasons is that he is taking the time to analyze Randy’s face, trying to put a real emotion to what he sees. He then connects this to what he’s heard Cherry say before, showing that he’s thinking about it and really trying and really starting to understand how the socs have it rough. He gets all of this because he is thoughtful and because he is really thinking about everything he knows and has

This shows Ponyboy being arrogant when he states to Ponyboy, “That made me mad, I mean making a fool of myself in front of everyone. ‘An’ you can shut your trap, Johnny Cade, ‘cause we all know you ain’t wanted at home either. And you can’t blame them.’” page (42). This shows that Ponyboy is arrogant because this is one example of when he talked on impulse just when he was mad. This shows that he really didn’t think about what he was saying and just said these things because he was mad and wanted to hurt someone else too. This was putting himself above someone else because he felt embarrassed. So, Ponyboy has his faults, however his plethora of good traits ultimately drowns them